Canteen/bottle Stoppers

[Bloodroot]

I've used wood and corncobs for stoppers (mostly gourd containers) but I was just curious - any documentation on the availability or use of cork in the 18th century?

 

[Stophel]

You could get them from a wine bottle (but then, what would you seal your wine bottle back up with?), but I don't know that they were otherwise readily available for sale separately. :idunno: My thought is that stoppers would generally have been wood, or the aforementioned corn cob. :wink:

 

[crockett]

That question goes beyond muzzle loading to general history of the times (which is my way of saying I don't know :grin: )- maybe try the Smithsonian for use of cork for bottle stoppers, etc. Or Colonial Williamsburg.

 

[George]

- any documentation on the availability or use of cork in the 18th century?

Yes, a lot of it. Here are just a few, mostly offered for sale, which I've collected from the newspapers of the day. Notice that some are very early, and some offered as casks full of corks.

1732 Those that send clean Bottles with good Corks, may have the best Beer for 4s. the Dozen, and Middling Beer for 2s. the Dozen.

1733 Paper, Parchment, Sealing Wax, Wafers; Vinegar, Lime-juice, Corks, &c.

1734 best London & Philadelphia Tobacco, Scotch Snuff, Stationary Ware, Casks of Corks, Rum, Lime-juice, Bottle Cyder & Muscovado Sugar, with sundry other Goods:

1734 powder blue & snuff, strouds, Indian trading Guns, Beeds and none so pretties, cotton checks, corks, New England Axes best sort, salt fish,

1734 Just imported and to be Sold by John Watson ... anchovies, capers, olives walnuts. Glew, Indigo, starch salt-peter, vinegar, train oyl, corks, shoes sundry sorts,

1735 JUST IMPORTED per Capt. Bishop & Shoebrick,... raisins, currants, spices, arrack, vinegar, corks, starch, indigo & powder blue, glue, shott, flag brooms, mopp heads,

1747 ....glasses from half a Minute to two Hours, Quadrants, Mops, tinder boxes with flints and steels, thrumbs, corks, cartridge paper, speaking trumpets, spy glasses,

1762 desk furniture, a parcel of neat cocking and squirrel pieces, bottle corks, &c. &c.

1766 half gallon case bottles, wide mouth bottles, sets of surveying instruments, seine corks, grindstones, hand millstones

1771 pistols of different sizes; sundry sorts of slate pocket books; ink stands; gun screws and flints; decanter corks....

Spence

 

[Stophel]

Excellent! Thank you!

 

[Bloodroot]

Spence,

GREAT info and documentation - exactly what I was looking for. Any details or specifics with this documentation as far as geographical area goes that you know of?

-Jim

 

[George]

I think any ideas about geographic distribution would be skewed by my database. It covers mostly the southeast, the three main newspapers I read are the various forms of the Pennsylvania Gazette, the South Carolina Gazette and the Virginia Gazette, or various other publications associated with them... the Pennsylvania Packet, for example. Occasional items are reported from New York or Boston, some from the Kentucky frontier or other areas of "front line" conflict, and a lot of items from England or Europe, but most are local items for those three papers. Many items are simply advertisements for things offered for sale.

There are many other references to corks than simple stoppers, though. People work as cork cutters, mention is made of cork soled shoes, "inside or outside Cork-shoes", uncut cork, fishing bobbers/floats, seine corks, English corks, velvet corks, &c.

There can be no doubt corks in many forms were available and were used in a great variety of ways, but most reports of it will be in the civilized areas, few from the frontiers. It would take more information than I have to make any firm statements about the "where" beyond such general ones as that.

I decided there was enough documentation for my purposes, so I've used them on canteens and small gourd containers for a long time.

Spence

 

[Bloodroot]

Thanks Spence once again. I am interested primarily in the Southeast so great.

Great pics also. I really like the gourd with the wood stopper.

Thanks again,

Jim